Kristin Hanes' Journey: Building The Wayward Home and Inspiring a Nomadic Community
Company profile
Company business details
Motivation to build the product
Kristin Hanes was motivated to start The Wayward Home to share her personal experiences and insights about living a nomadic lifestyle. She recognized a growing interest in alternative living and wanted to provide resources and support for others looking to embrace this lifestyle.Problem that their product solves
The Wayward Home solves the problem of lack of information and support for individuals interested in alternative living, such as van life and RV living. The end users are those seeking to live a nomadic lifestyle, and solving this problem is important as it helps them navigate the challenges of living on the road while providing a sense of community and shared experiences.Their unfair advantage
The Wayward Home's unfair advantage lies in its personal storytelling and community-building approach, which resonates with readers and creates a loyal following. Additionally, the founder's firsthand experience in the nomadic lifestyle adds authenticity and credibility to the content.Strategies
Pre-Launch (Product Development & MVP)
Free Blogging Course
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner launched a free email course titled 'How to Start a Blog' to help aspiring bloggers learn the basics of blogging. This course provided step-by-step guidance on setting up a blog, from technical aspects to monetization strategies. By offering this valuable resource for free, she attracted a large audience and built a community of potential customers who would later be interested in her paid courses and products.
Investing in Blogging Education
Kristin invested $800 in a blogging course to learn the ins and outs of running a successful blog. This investment was crucial as it provided her with the foundational knowledge needed to navigate the blogging landscape effectively. By understanding the business of blogging, she was able to set herself up for success from the very beginning.
Launch Stage
Leveraging Media Connections for Traffic
Kristen Haynes utilized her previous connections from her journalism career to gain initial traction for her blog, The Wayward Home. After launching her site, she reached out to friends at SF Gate, a major online news platform, who agreed to republish several of her articles. This strategy not only provided her with a significant boost in traffic but also helped her gain credibility in the niche, as these articles were linked back to her site using canonical links. This early exposure was crucial in establishing her online presence and attracting an audience.
Social Media Group Sharing
In the early stages of her blog, Kristen actively shared her articles in various Facebook groups related to sailing, RVing, and van life. This grassroots approach allowed her to tap into existing communities interested in her content, driving significant traffic to her site. Although this method may not be as effective today, it played a vital role in her initial growth, helping her to build an audience and gain traction before focusing on SEO.
Pinterest Marketing Strategy
Kristen recognized the potential of Pinterest as a traffic source early on and took a Pinterest course to learn how to effectively use the platform. She created visually appealing pins for her blog posts and shared them on Pinterest, which helped her attract a substantial amount of traffic. This strategy contributed to her qualifying for Mediavine within six months of launching her blog, as she was able to generate thousands of page views through Pinterest.
Learn more about The Wayward Home
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